Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea
by Dis Lexic
Summary: When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!
1. I Douse a Bully

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **OK, so this idea is admittedly utterly mad, but I did make it fair! I rolled a dice to determine who our heros Godly parent would be and it landed on Poseidon...and no ones gonna believe that for a moment. Anyway, enjoy!**

I Douse a Bully

Before we begin, I should probably warn you. This story will sound so utterly unbelievable that you probably won't believe a word of it. However, I swear that every word of it is the gods honest truth.

It all started when I died. Yeah, I know, off to a flying start. I won't go into how, but I certainly wasn't expecting to wake up again, especially not as a baby in the world of Worm. Yeah, not exactly the luckiest guy in the world, am I? Then again, I suppose I should consider myself at least a little lucky. Why? Well, my name is Percy Jackson, but I'm pretty sure that there aren't any Gods running around America in this world. Well, other than Scion, but I don't think he counts.

Urg, anyway, I spent my childhood and most of my teen years living with my Mum (who was called Sally incidentally) in a relatively nice area of New York, paid for by Mum's job as an author and teacher. I admit that I spent a good deal of my childhood expecting to be shipped off to Camp Half-Blood when I turned 12, but it didn't happen. Oh, I was shipped of to summer camp, but it was a perfectly normal one, with no Centaurs, Satyrs or Celestial Bronze. Once that happened, I breathed a sigh of relief. I really shouldn't have.

To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't see it coming considering I was diagnosed with both ADHD and Dyslexia, on top of being labeled as a troublemaker on a regular basis, despite not actually doing anything wrong. Well, I did tend to get into fights, but its not my fault I don't like bullies damn it! Still, at least I didn't get kicked out of school, so that was something I guess.

* * *

When I was 15 things got a little...odd. It started when Mum lost her job thanks to cutbacks at the school she worked at and, although she made a good chunk of money off her books, she still needed a job to keep things in balance. Fortunately, there was a well paid job available that she got easily. Unfortunately, it was a teaching position at Arcadia.

That meant we had to pack up and ship off to Brockton and, since apparently having a parent teaching there isn't enough to be bumped up the transfer list, I wasn't able to get into Arcadia this late into my second year of highschool. Looks like I'm destined for Winslow! Joy.

On the...odd side of things, we moved into a house just next door to someone rather unexpected. Like I said, while we weren't mega well off, we still had enough to get a place in a semi-decent neighbourhood, which around here basically meant that you could actually go out at night without getting mugged. I think that probably had something to do with the fact that an awful lot of the Dockworkers from the DWU lived in the area and really didn't like the gangs trying to hurt them at home as well as at work. Considering that, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that my new neighbour was Taylor.

To my suprise, Danny actually made a point to welcome us to the neighbourhood. No offence to him or anything, but I was half expecting him to still be wallowing in grief. Maybe something was different in this world? Taylor was a little less eager to meet and greet, but I did manage to get her to show me around the area, during which I managed to bring her out of her shell with a conversation on classic literature. Like, really classic. I'm talking stuff like the Odyssey and the Iliad, along with Greek myths and legends. She knew rather a lot about it and her eyes never failed to light up whenever she talked about it.

Strangely enough, her eyes were one of the things that I wasn't expecting about her. Normally, shes depicted with either brown or green eyes in the fics I'd read, but this Taylor had jet black eyes that, even under the weight of two years of bullying and a Trigger Event, still gleamed with a light that I found rather unnerving. And strangely familiar.

The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking and hanging out with Taylor, who quickly proved to be an absolute joy to talk to about all things Literature. Mum quickly reached the point where she adored the tall girl and broke out her baking gear to make sure we were never without freshly baked goodies during unpacking.

* * *

Eventually though, my first day at Winslow rolled around and things got...interesting. I'd convinced Taylor to give me a quick tour before I headed to the office to finish up getting sorted, which she reluctantly obliged to. As you might expect, it didn't take long for Sophia and Emma to start on Taylor. We were walking between lessons when a voice spoke up from behind us.

"Well hello there Taylor," said Emma in a faux friendly voice, "I haven't seen you all day!"

We stopped, Taylor getting a look of resignation on her face as we turned. Emma was just as gorgeous as I imagined, other than her saccharin smile and eager gleam in her eyes.

"Oh? And who's this?" asked Emma, looking me up and down, "A new friend?"

I plastered a smile on my face that probably looked as fake as hers.

"Thats right," I said, "I just moved into the City with my Mum for her job. Taylor lives nearby and she offered to show me around the school. Percy Jackson, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you Percy," said Emma, shaking my hand before putting a faux concerned look on her face and glancing at Taylor

She lent in close and stage whispered in the perfect tone that her words could clearly be heard by Taylor, who looked like she knew and was dreading what was to come.

"You know, you might want to be careful," said Emma, "Taylor has...a bit of a reputation around here."

I twitched slightly.

"Does she now?" I asked.

"Oh yes," said Emma, "I think shes involved with the Merchants. Be careful of anything she gives you, because…"

I held up a hand.

"And let me just stop you there," I said.

Emma blinked.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm allergic to bullshit," I deadpanned, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I can see right through blatant lies like that."

"Why I never…"

"I have plenty of experience dealing with bullies and people who enjoy spreading false rumors," I said, cutting her off, "People like you are easy to read if you know how and I most definitely do."

My ADHD made concentrating in class a bitch and a half, but for some reason it also gave me excellent observational skills and I'd refined those skills so I could easily read people when needed. Plus, the fact I knew exactly what she was like helped to.

"Now, I'm pretty sure I just craitered my social life around here, but I really don't care," I said, "If you'll excuse me, I've got a tour to finish. Lets go Taylor."

I turned to leave, only to walk straight into a fist to the gut. The blow knocked the wind out of me and I stumbled as a black girl who could only be Sophia, who had snuck up on me, grabbed me by the neck.

"Well, that wasn't very nice," she sneered as she dug in her fingers, "I think you need to be taught a lesson nea kid."

She started dragging me towards the loos, apparently completely ignoring my attempts to get her off me. She was incredibly strong, enough that I was certain that she'd gained different powers than in canon at the time. I noticed out the corner of my eye that Emma had grabbed Taylor by the arm and was dragging her after us, likely to force her to watch.

The toilets were pretty much exactly as you'd expect for a shit hole like Winslow and I quickly redoubled my struggling. I was NOT going in that thing! It looked like it hadn't been cleaned since I was born!

Unfortunately, they were to strong and I couldn't get lose. Then, I felt a sharp tug in my gut and the plumbing exploded. Water came shooting out of the john, arching over my head and hitting Sophia full in the face. Naturally, she dropped me and stumbled back, cursing loudly, but it wasn't over. The other toilets also erupted with the force of a fire hose, dowsing and shoving Sopha back into Emma, knocking both to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Then, the sinks also decided that they didn't like what was going on and erupted with the force of a firehose, hitting the bullies full force and sending all five of them skidding out of the room in a deluge of stinking water. As soon as they were gone, the tug vanished and the water shut off, leaving the room flooded and dripping.

Even Taylor had not been spared, although it looked like it was just water from the sinks rather than the bogs. I however was stood on a perfectly dry circle of floor without a single drop of water on me.

"H-how did you do that?!" spluttered Taylor.

"I...have absolutely no idea," I said.

Incidentally, I was lying through my teeth considering I had a pretty good idea how. Taylor and I left the bathroom to find Emma and Sophia untangling themselves, dripping and looking furious. Emma looked a little worried, but Sophia was glaring at me with a look of absolute hatred on her face.

"You…" she hissed, "You are so fucking dead! You hear me, DEAD!"

I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't resist.

"You want to gargle toilet water again?" I asked, "Shut your gob Sophia."

Sophia snarled and looked like she was about to attack me, but a teacher emerging from a classroom to investigate the commotion made her think twice. Instead, she turned and stomped away with Emma on her heels like a loyal dog.

"Well, that was interesting," I said.

Taylor just gave me a flat look.

* * *

The rest of the day went by without incident, although Taylor kept shooting me strange looks and I occasionally felt Sophia trying to burn a hole in the back of my head, although she didn't try anything else. Eventually, school let out and Taylor and I caught the bus home. For the first part, we sat quietly, although I could tell that Taylor had something she wanted to ask me.

"Whats up?" I asked.

Taylor nearly jumped out of her skin.

"W-what are you talking about?" she asked.

I sighed.

"Taylor, I can tell somethings bothering you," I said, "Just ask. I promise I'll answer if I can."

Taylor hesitated for a moment, before she blurted out:

"Are you a Cape?"

I blinked.

"Where did that come from?" I asked.

"W-well, you did that thing with the water, so I thought…" said Taylor, trailing off at the end.

"No, I'm not a Cape," I said, "I'm pretty sure I've never been through a Trigger Event and I'm pretty sure I'd remember something like that."

"I suppose that true," said Taylor, "But then, how did you do it?"

I shrugged.

"Who knows?" I said, "Maybe I inherited it from my Dad or something."

"I thought you had no idea who he was?" said Taylor.

"Exactly."

Taylor finally cracked a smile at that.

* * *

That night, I dreamt.

I found myself stood in a meeting room that was basically pure white, other than the chairs and the people sat in them. And what an eclectic bunch of people it was. It took less than a second to recognize all of them and realize that my first Demigod dream (because what else could it be?) involved the Cauldron.

Dr Mother sat at the head of the table with Contessa at her left, while Alexandria held the seat directly across from her boss with Eidolon at her side. Legend sat half way down the table across from a perfectly normal looking man with blond hair and stormy gray eyes who had to be the Number Man.

"So, what do we know?" asked Alexandria.

"Very little," said Dr Mother, "All we know is that the Path changed abruptly around six hours ago, Bet time."

I frowned. Six hours ago would put the moment of change at around the same time I doused Sophia.

"Changed?" asked Legend, "Changed how?"

"I don't know," said Contessa, looking annoyed, "I can't see anything anymore. Instead, all I see is a blinding light and a lot of green smoke."

Alexandria scowled.

"Great, and how are we supposed to beat Zion without the Path?" she asked, "I mean, even with it, our chance of victory is miniscule as is. Without it…"

"Yes, I am aware," said Contessa, "But theres nothing...I...ca…"

She trailed off as an odd look crossed her face. The other members of the Cauldron frowned as the Hat wearing woman stared of into the middle distence.

"Um, are you…" started Legend, but was cut off as Contessa suddenly let out a gasp and hunched over in her chair.

"Contessa?" said Dr Mother, leaning down to check on her right hand woman.

The moment her fingers touched the other womans shoulder, Contessa jerked back upright, showing that her eyes had rolled back into her skull and were glowing faintly. Naturally, everyone in the room, including me, jolted back at the unexpected and eery sight, not helped in the least when her mouth opened and green smoke began to billow out. The smoke pooled around her feet as Contessa's body began to rise, moving like a marionette on strings with, to be fair, probably wasn't that far from the truth. Then, she turned to me.

 _I am the spirit of Delphi, Speaker of the Prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, Slayer of the Mighty Python. Approach Seeker and ask._

I gulped. Even compared with everything that came with living in the Wormverse, I suddenly felt like I'd rather take on the Nine armed only with a toothbrush than face the Oracle. And I wasn't even really there! The Cauldron members didn't look much better, although Number Man looked like he was about to shit himself.

"Whats going on?" demanded Dr Mother, "Contessa, control yourself!"

"Thats not Contessa," muttered Number Man.

"Whoever you are, let her go!" demanded Alexandria, stepping forwards with her fists clenched as the other two members of the Trivumate tensed and readed for a rumble.

Number Man quickly headed that off by stepping between them.

"Don't," he said, "Seriously. That THINGS too strong to fight and I don't think we could hurt it if we tried."

Through all this, the Oricle remained stock still, staring into my eyes with blazing green orbs. I swallowed again and cleared my throat.

"What is my destiny?" I asked.

I wasn't sure if it could actually hear me, but apparently it could because the Oricle responded. The mist began to billow, rising up to form an image of twin snakes twining together, before that to dissolved and reformed into what looked like an office with Armsmaster, Miss Militia and a large woman who could only be the Director sitting around the desk. Armsmaster looked up, his eyes blazing like green torches

 _The Cycle is paused, but not ended._

Miss Militia was next.

 _You who fight will fail alone._

Finally, Piggot looked up and spoke.

 _Only with the Blood of the Gods shall you succeed._

The scene dissolved and reformed into what could only be the sitting room of the Big House a world away, complete with cardigan wearing Centaur in a wheelchair, a near mirror image of me and a blond girl in a baseball cap. Chiron looked up from his book and spoke.

 _Ten Great Heroes shall answer the call._

Annabeth was next.

 _Children of the Council, lost to the Seas of Reality._

And finally, Percy.

 _Ten Heroes, to Preserve all worlds or see them burn._

The scene dissolved once again and the smoke began to regather into a serpentine form.

The tip of the cloudy serpent's tail vanished back into Contessa's mouth and she collapsed. A moment later, the vision dissolved and I fell into fitful sleep.

 **Hoo boy, that was certainly a wild ride! Before I sign of, a few important points.**

 **Point one, Bet obviously doesn't have any native supernatural creatures, although it is possible for Gods and Monsters to cross over using various methods. However, doing so is rather rare. Some hop across more than others, but generally theres not more than 100 Demigods on Bet at a time.**

 **No, Contessa is not an unknown host for the Oricle, she was just used as a mouthpiece for it thanks to some machinations from the Fates.**

 **I wonder if you can guess who I have in mind for being the Children of the Prophecy? Percy's obviously one, but the other eight might be a bit harder to figure out. Well, mostly. Two of them are a tad obvious from this chapter. You can probably even guess who their Parents are.**

 **That said, there will be a few more Demigods popping up who aren't connected to the Prophecy. In fact, we met one in this chapter.**

 **Anyway, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	2. I Battle a Hero

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **And we're back. Lets get started! Enjoy!**

I Battle a Hero

I think it goes without saying, but it didn't take me long to find myself awake and unable to get back to sleep. I'd seen the fucking Oricle, a being that Chiron was genuinely worried would send Percy insane, possess the biggest boogyman in Earth Bet and deliver what could only be a Great Prophecy to me, despite the fact I was there as an astral projection that basically implied that, if anyone wanted to take down Scion, they needed Godly Blood. Fuck me, this is exactly why I didn't want to be a Demigod! I don't want to be a world saving hero! Hell, I had to find nine other Demigods and I didn't even know where to start! Eventually, I gave up trying to sleep and, on Friday, decided to go for a walk. Sure, it was bit (read, a lot) dangerous to be out after dark, but I could fight and I'd been working on my Hydrokinesis, so I wasn't completely helpless.

After changing into from my PJ's into my running gear, I grabbed my water bottle, snuck out of the house and jogged down the street. I really should have been more prepared than I was.

* * *

I'm not sure what it was, but I suddenly stopped when I was a block from home, just in time for a crossbow bolt to shoot past my nose and bounce of the wall. If I'd kept going, that would have buried itself in my shoulder, completely disabling my arm. I turned, just in time to see another arrow shooting towards me. I responded by throwing my bottle at it.

The arrow split the bottle with ease, but considering the liquid was currently harder than steel, it just bounced off that as well. A gesture made the water reform into the shape of a sword, specifically a Xiphos. Because what else would it be?

"And here I thought you were supposed to be using tranqu bolts," I called.

There was a scoff from the darkness as Shadow Stalker stepped into the light.

"Like I give a crap what those weaklings want," she growled, "Besides, this is personal."

I smirked. Looks like she was more angry over the toilet water thing than I thought if she was willing to risk killing me over it.

"Aww, did I make you mad?" I said, "Then again, I guess getting sprayed in the face by a commode is rather humiliating, right Sophia?"

Shadow Stalker jerked back as if struck, giving me the perfect opening to close the distance and jam the pommel of my sword into her gut. It might be made of water, but it was still as solid as steel, so it knocked the wind out of her and sent her flying back. Huh, guess I get a strength boost as a Demigod. Or it could just be the water.

Anyway, Sophia quickly recovered from the blow by turning shadow and backflipping, switching back to solid a moment later to fire a pair of bolts at me. A flex of will turned my sword into a shield, deflecting the bolts as I sprinted after her, deflecting another couple of bots as I did. I slid under the last one, turning my water shield into a Khopesh as I did. I hooked the hooked blade of the weapon around Sophia's legs and pulled, yanking her off her feet before she could react. She let out a yelp as she hit the ground, releasing her crossbows as she did and giving me the perfect opportunity to disarm her, kicking the weapons into the darkness.

Sophia snarled as she flipped back to her feet and pulled out a pair of bolts that she held like daggers and went on the attack. I shifted my water weapon back into a Xiphos (which was just more comfortable in my hand) and met her attack. I'm pretty sure that, from the outside, it probably just looked like a blur of motion as we attacked, countered, blocked and parried in a rapid dance that was accompanied by the sound of metal on metal (somehow) and the occasional grunt as one of us got past the others guard.

Eventually, one of us found the inevitable opening and in this case, it was Sophia. Not that surprising since, talent aside, she just had more experience than I did. She managed to knock my sword out of position and immediately capitalized on the opening by punching me in the stomach, sending me skidding back.

For a moment, we stood still, both breathing heavily as we glared at one another. At some point in the fight, Sophia had lost her mask and hood and she was bleeding from a few cuts on her face and favouring her left leg slightly where I'd managed to nick her hip. I wasn't much better, with a gash on my arm and a long cut just above my eye that was bleeding profusely.

We might have continued our bout, but the moment was shattered by a sound I don't think either of us expected. Clapping. We both turned to see a frankly massive man leaning against an equally massive harley davidson with flames on the tanks, loaded shotgun holsters bolted to the sides and a seat that looked like it was made from some kind of white leather that looked uncomfortably like human skin.

The man himself was somehow even more intimidating than the bike. He towered over me and his biceps looked like they were bigger around than my torso. He was wearing black jeans, combat boots, a black leather duster, and a red muscle shirt under a bulletproof vest and had a large hunting knife strapped to his thigh. His face was handsome, in a cruel and brutal way, with knife scarred cheeks and an oily black crew cut. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of blood red wrap around sunglasses, but I could still feel the heat of his gaze from here.

"Who the fuck are you?" snarled Sophia.

Ares let out a bark of laughter and pushed off his bike.

"I'd be offended at that, but I honestly can't blame you for not recognizing me," he said, "However, I think fish breath knows me."

I twitched slightly, but sucked it up. I did NOT want to annoy him. I'd rather fight Alexandria armed with a toothpick.

"Ares, God of War," I said, "What are you doing here?"

Ares snorted.

"I happen to like this world," he said, "Always so much conflict and plenty of glorious battle! But if your asking why I'm in the City specifically, well, your Daddy asked me to do him a favour. Normally I wouldn't play delivery boy, but since I was looking for my own kid, I figured I'd make an exception. Here."

He tossed something at me and I barely caught it before it smacked me in the face. At the same time, a green trident appeared above my head, lighting up the alleyway.

"Um, thank you?" I said, not sure how to take the fact that Ares was acting as delivery boy for Poseidon.

I was also busy trying to decide if I should be pissed that, yes, I was actually the Son of Poseidon and not some weird anomaly of a Parahuman. Meanwhile, Sophia apparently decided that she didn't fancy living and scoffed.

"God of War?" she sneered, "Don't make me laugh! I bet your just another Cape with a puffed up ego."

I stared at her like she'd gone nuts, before slowly backing away. Ares stared at Sophia for a moment, before he did something I wasn't expecting. Instead of turning her into a prairie dog or something, he burst out laughing.

"BWAHAHAHAHA, you got spunk kid!" he thundered, "Even Clarisse doesn't have the guts to talk to me like that! I think I'm gonna really like you."

I blinked. Why did he… OH HELL NO!

My head snapped around as I looked between the two battle nuts facing off and made more than a few connections. Sophia was strong, much stronger than she should be, she was naturally belligerent and had a head for battle that went even further than most Parahumans. Not only that, but now I looked closer, I could see a fair few similarities between Ares and Sophia. Like that grin Ares was wearing for example. It was the same one Sophia had worn when she had been about to dunk me.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" snarled Sopha.

Ares laughed again and took off his sunglasses, revealing the nuclear explosions he had instead of eyes. Sophia, predictably, took a step back in shock.

"It means that you'd better start believing I'm a God Sophia Hess," he said, his grin widening to terrifying levels, "Cus, while I like my kids to have some bite, that doesn't mean that they get free reign to insult me."

While he was talking, Ares started cranking out an aura that basically screamed 'THIS THING IS SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU, BOOK IT!' at the most primal and base part of me. And I was only affected because I was standing next to Sophia, the actual target. She reacted pretty much as you'd expect. Her eyes widened in absolute terror and I could see that she was shaking. However, she didn't back down and met her Fathers glare with one of her own. After a few moments, Ares let up on his aura and snorted.

"That attitude will be the death of you," he said, "Well, whatever. I've done what I came here for, so I'm leaving. Oh, but before I forget."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a can of pepper spray.

"Here, I got Forge brain to make this for you," he said, tossing the can to Sophia, who just looked confused as she caught it.

"What am I supposed to…" she started, but was cut off as she did something and the can turned into a full sized crossbow made of bronze, "...oh."

Ares laughed.

"Normally I'd prefer my kids use real weapons, but I certainly ain't gonna complain about you being the best with your own," he said, "That won't ever run out of ammo and will return to your pocket if you lose it."

"Um, how exactly did you get Hephaestus to make you that?" I asked, "I would have thought he'd have laughed in your face considering your screwing his wife."

Ares growled.

"Don't push it Percy Jackson," he growled, "Your good, but you don't hold a candle to your brother."

He swung himself onto his bike and roared away, leaving a trail of crimson fire in his wake. Sophia and I stared after him, before I glanced at her.

"So, we gonna keep fighting or do you just want to go home?" I asked.

Sophia glared at me, but stomped away, pausing only to retrieve her mask and normal crossbows as she did. I remained where I was until she was out of sight and had been for a good five minutes, before I relaxed and looked down at what Ares had given me. It was a bundle wrapped in fabric that shimmered like fish scales and contained a bronze wristwatch with a black leather strap and a pen with a trident shaped clip. My eyes lit up and I clicked the pen. Sure enough, it extended into a full length Xiphos made of faintly glowing bronze metal and a word engraved on the blade. I tilted the weapon so I could read it.

"Maelstrom," I muttered, "Awesome."

I turned my attention to the watch and quickly put it on. It took a moment, but I quickly discovered that, yes, it was a bronze, Greek style shield with a trident embossed on the metal. I grinned.

"Thanks Dad," I muttered.

A slight wind picked up and swirled around me, carrying the scent of the sea. My smile widened as I collapsed my shield and sword and slipped the pen into my pocket with the fabric it was wrapped in. I don't think it had any real properties, but it was good quality and large enough to work as a bandana or something similar. Plus, it was from Dad, so I really couldn't complain.

 **And that'll do. Well, that was fun! I planned right from the start to have him get into a fight with Sophia, but I honestly wasn't expecting it to take a full chapter. On a side note, Ares is oddly fun to write. I might have him show up later…**

 **So, who expected me to make Sophia Ares' kid? Shes actually the one character who I had planned as a Demigod from the start and I originally intended for her to already be aware of her parentage and be the one to confirm that Percy is actually one to.**

 **I somehow doubt that Ares would ever agree to play messenger, but he really likes Bet and takes any opportunity he can get to visit. In fact, most of the Demigods on Bet tend to be Ares kids.**

 **Incidentally, a Celestial Bronze weapon isn't as useless in this world as you might think. True, their useless against Mortals, but Parahumans don't quite qualify. They are actually vulnerable to Bronze, even those who would be invulnerable under normal circumstances. The same goes for the other types of Godly metal out there.**

 **Speaking of which, Shards interact oddly with Godly blood. Although Demigods can Trigger, once said Demigod is Claimed, their power and Shard do all sorts of odd things. I'll reveal the what later on.**

 **And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	3. I Meet a Metal Wolf

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **So yeah, I had so much fun writing this, I'm gonna continue it. Oh, and I've decided to go with a PJO title naming convention! Enjoy!**

I Meet a Metal Wolf

So lets take stock, shall we? Theres me, a teenager with the mind of an adult and enough future knowledge to know exactly how screwed the entire world is, and also happens to be the child of a God and possibly the subject of a Great Prophecy that was somehow delivered through CONTESSA! Not only that, but my only real friend in the city was a girl who was being bullied by another Demigod who also happened to be a Cape and was Claimed by her Father in person, who happened to be Ares and played messenger for my Dad. This...this is just plain crazy!

So crazy in fact that I managed to give myself a headache thinking about it all over the remainder of the week and, by the time the weekend rolled around, I desperately needed a break. With that in mind, I headed out and wondered around down by the sea front.

I think it goes without saying, but being close to the sea never failed to calm me down. I ended up in the Boat Graveyard, perched on top of one of the ruined ships with a pocket full of stones, flicking them out across the bay. Not sure if it was because of my Parentage or I was just that good, but most of them had at least seven skips before sinking. I wasn't really focusing on that though, instead, I was watching the water play on the surface of the water.

It was really odd, being this close to the sea. I could feel it at the edge of my senses, all the power and fury hidden below the placed surface. I could even feel all the life going about its business below the surface and, far off in the distance, I could feel a massive blot, like a blot of ink maring a perfect painting. Leviathan, it had to be. He felt wrong, so unbelievably unwelcome, I could practically feel the seas begging me to kick the monster from the water. I just hoped that I'd be able to at some point.

A massive explosion suddenly yanked me out of my musings and I looked up to see a pillar of smoke rising from the direction I knew the DWU compound was. My stomach dropped. It had been all of a week, but in that time, Taylor and Danny had made a big impact on Mum and I and I honestly already considered both my friends and I didn't want to see either hurt. With that in mind, I jumped to my feet and started sprinting in the direction of the smoke, pausing only to tie the bandana my shield and sword had come in around my face. I might technically not be a Cape, but that doesn't mean I wanted my identity known.

* * *

The Boat Graveyard wasn't that far from the DWU compound, so it didn't take me long to get there. When I did, it was to find the place had apparently become a battleground for the ABB and Empire as the thugs duked it out and Oni Lee and Hookwolf rampaged through the area, completely ignoring the many mooks who got caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, it didn't look like any of the dockworkers had been killed, but I could see a few sporting injuries behind the barricades they'd put up to keep the battling gangsters away from the Headquarters building.

I sighed in relief. The fact that the attack wasn't directly targeting the DWA made this so much easier. Still, I really ought to get them to leave. With that in mind, I activated my shield, drew my sword and stepped around the corner of the building I was hiding behind, catching an E88 mook full in the face with a disk of solid bronze with a loud crunch. He crumpled, out cold and with a broken nose.

"Huh, I wasn't expecting that to work," I muttered.

Considering Celestial Bronze wasn't supposed to do anything to Mortals, I was half expecting to just clothesline him. I swung my sword, smacking an ABB goon over the head with the flat as he tried to charge me. Like the other guy, he collapsed.

"Right, be careful," I muttered, "Don't want to stab anyone lethally."

I shook myself out of my musings, lifted my weapons and charged into the melee. I think it probably goes without saying, but putting a Demigod with a natural inclination towards combat in amongst a horde of gangsters who don't actually know that much about fighting tends to result in an absolute massacre. It didn't take long at all for my instincts to take over and my sword became a blur, slicing into flesh, through weapons and slamming into heads with incredible speed, taking people down painfully and with enough force that they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. As an added bonus, I quickly discovered that Mortal steel is no match for Celestial Bronze and most weapons simply came apart with ease, with the only weapon to withstand Maelstroms edge being a rather nice looking katana one of the ABB goons was using. It didn't help him much though as my blow was strong enough to disarm him and my follow up strike knocked his teeth out.

"SHIT, CAPE!" screamed a goon from the crowd and a space opened around me.

I ducked behind my shield as a number of mooks opened fire, bulling forwards as the bullets hit my shield with no effect whatsoever. I hit the firing line like a truck, bowling the ones I hit straight off their feet as my shield and Maelstrom snapped out, dealing with the ones to the side. Then, I turned on my heel as my instincts screamed, just in time to catch Hookwolfs charge. The force pushed me back, but his steel blades only screeched across the bronze with a horrendous sound.

"Heh, not bad brat," growled the Nazi Cape, "That some kind of Tinkertech?"

"You could say that," I said and shoved with all my strength.

The look on Hookwolfs face when I, an admittedly short and slightly skinny teen, sent him flying back with a single shove was priceless, although I didn't have time to enjoy the feeling as I was forced to dive forwards as Oni Lee appeared behind me with a grenade primed. I cursed as Hookwolf came charging back, more deadly blades sprouting from his Changer form as Oni Lee reappeared and tried to stab me. I couldn't face both of them at once, even if they were also fighting each other. Even fighting one of them as I was was a bit of a tall order, but both at the same time would seem me shredded, stabbed or blown up before help arrived. And thats if one of the mooks didn't take advantage of my distraction to shoot me in the back. I needed an advantage.

Fortunately, there was one within spitting distance. All I needed to do was get to the bay and this battle was over. I'd either be able to flatten both or use the water to book it. With that in mind, I began to retreat, making sure to go slowly enough that neither Villains would figure out what I wanted and pushing my reflexes, strength and speed to their absolute limit as I dodged, blocked and deflected blades, bombs and the occasional gunshot, getting faster and faster as the wind began to pick up around me. The more I submerged myself in my fighting instincts, the more the wind began to blow until I was fighting both villains in a slowly moving twister that prevented anyone from getting close. Not only that, but a strike of my blade against the ground caused a minor tremor that knocked Oni Lee of balance when he tried to backstab me.

Through all of the violence, I couldn't help but start to grin as I let my powers surge. I could feel my Godly Blood sing in my veins as I fought, my powers flowing through me like a tidal wave. Even the risk of a horrible death did nothing but get me stoked even more. Good god, I was turning into an Adrenaline junky!

Apparently I'd underestimated the extend of the fighting, because as I sent Hookwolf flying through a building with an Earthquake enhanced kick to the face and jumped after him, it was to find Stormtiger and Cricket duking it out with Assault and Battery. Said fight paused as Hookwolf nearly slammed into Assault as I jumped after him. I paused at the looks I was suddenly getting, my sudden loss of concentration causing my tornado to vanish. A moment later, the tableau was broken by Oni Lee teleporting in and trying to stab me, only to get the flat of Maelstrom to the face for his troubles.

That seemed to be the signal for the fight to start again in earnest as Hookwolf scrambled to his feet with a roar of fury and went for me again, only to get batted away as Assault punted him across the area. Stormtiger tried to take advantage of the red clad Hero's distraction, but his claws simply dissipated against my shield a I jumped between him and Assault.

"Hey kid, new Cape?" asked the former Villain as he casually kicked a small stone at Cricket, knocking her off her feet from the force.

"Yeah, new Cape," I said as I stabbed another of Lee's clones.

"You should get out of here," said Battery, "Its to dangerous for a kid."

I gave her a flat look.

"I just spent the last five minutes holding off both Oni Lee and Hookwolf with a sword and a shield," I deadpanned, "Trust me, I can hold my own."

I quickly proved that as Cricket leaped back in, Karma leading the way, only to meet my sword and have her scythes get sliced in half.

"You do know thats a Japanese weapon?" I asked, before kicking her in the face, "Damn hypocrites."

Battery sighed.

"Fine, I guess we could use the help," she grumbled, "We need to finish this quick before anyone else shows up."

I nodded.

"Right, well, I have an idea for that," I said, "But I need to get to the water. Can you hold them off?"

"Pfft, easily," said Assault, "Go do your thing kid."

I nodded and took off towards the sea, ignoring the crys of me being a coward coming from the Nazi's. The sea wasn't far, so it didn't take me long to reach the edge. However, before I could jump, I heard a cry of warning from Battery. Without thinking, I turned, just in time to see Lee drop the pin of a grenade at his feet and jam his knife into my stomach.

"Aw sh…"

I was cut off by an explosion. My scream of pain was cut off by the force of the shockwave as the flames burnt my skin and shrapnel buried itself in my chest, face and limbs. I'm pretty sure that the only reason I wasn't killed instantly was because most Demigods can survive blows from the likes of Titans and Giants without being squashed. Even so, I'd be down for a long time and likely permanently scared. Well, that would be the case, but the blast had knocked me off the dock and into the sea.

The moment I hit the water, a rush of new energy hit me and I felt my wounds begin to heal. I blinked as the pain vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and absently pulled the knife out of my gut as I looked around. Despite the murkiness of the water, I could see perfectly, although the sheer number of rusted hulks littering the floor of the bay meant I couldn't actually see that far. I could hear sounds that I somehow knew were from whales out in the open ocean and could sense all the sea life that made the bay its home. Hell, I could even feel the dark blotch miles away that I knew had to be Leviathan! Good god, this was freaking awesome!

I grinned as I waved a hand, causing the current to swirl around me, the waters responding to my commands like an eager puppy. Yes, with this, I could definitely deal with the enemy Capes. I took a deep breath, gathered my power and spun, creating a powerful current beneath me that blasted me to the surface, carrying me up on a pillar of water as the entire length of water at the edge began to boil, large tendrales that resembled octopus tentacles forming and writhing from the water. I'm not sure what it was, but the water was easy to control, even without really having much practice. Ares had implied that this world wasn't the same one he was from, a fact backed up by the fact I hadn't been attacked by Monsters or found by a Satyr, so maybe that had something to do with it? Who knows. Either way, the reactions I got were priceless.

Of course, Lee was less easy to impress and tried to stab me in the back, but one of my tentacles just smacked him across the bay and out of sight.

"So, still wanna fight?" I asked.

Immediately, the three Nazi's broke off from Assault and Battery and charged me, Stormtiger firing a few claws of wind at me as they approached. The wind attack simply dissipated the second it entered my area of control. My powers over the storms might not be as strong as a Son of Zeus, but I could still command the sea winds, especially with the boost provided by the Ocean. I smirked.

"Fine, you asked for it," I said and drew my sword again.

The water responded, surging forwards and forming into a herd of galloping horses in a powerful wave that knocked the nazi Parahumans off their feet. A moment later, I was on them and, considering an ocean empowered Percy was able to fight toe to toe with Ares, the fight (if it can be called that) didn't last long and by the time the water receded, all three were unconscious and I'd discovered that Celestial Bronze is very effective at cutting through even Changer powers like Hookwolfs. I skidded to a stop as the last of the liquid equines splashed against the cracked tarmac. I kept the pose for a moment, before looking up and smirking under my mask at the sight of both Protectorate heroes gaping at me and dripping wet.

"Oops, let me get that for you," I said and waved a hand.

The water soaking the older Heroes immediately flew off them and formed into a basketball sized sphere over my hand. Assault blinked and smirked.

"Well, proper little Aquaman, aren't you?" he said.

I winced. I did not want to be landed with that name.

"Actually, I prefer Hoplite," I said, "Please, don't call me Aquaman."

Battery smacked her husband on the shoulder before he could respond.

"Well, I don't entirely approve of you being here, but thank you for the help," she said, "I'm required to ask you to come down to the PRT Headquarters to fill out a report."

I gave her a shrewd look.

"I suppose that comes with a recrutement pitch for the Wards?" I asked.

"Of course," said Battery, "You are exactly the kind of person the Wards program was created for. Your clearly powerful and reckless. We can give you a support structure to help you understand your powers and keep you safe. You know that the gangs are going to be after you now, either to try and recruit you or remove you as a threat."

I snorted and was about to tell her where to stick it, but the words died in my throat. I could practically feel three burning gazes fixed on me, daring me to go against their plans. I swallowed. For some reason, someone wanted me to go and not doing so would likely result in...unpleasant results.

"Alright, I'll come along," I said, mentally congratulating myself for keeping the shaking out of my voice.

I resisted the urge to growl as the attention left me, probably to go back to screwing someone over. Fate sucks.

 **Well, thats done. It was rather fun to write.**

 **Percy is a Child of one of the Big Three, a Demigod who, while not having the experience and training of his brother, still has the potential to fight on par with Gods. Combine that with the fact that there is nothing in the sea to even try and limit his control and hes actually got more power than canon Percy. Of course, if he shows up (he won't), canon Percy would kick our Percy's ass. That said, I don't think three Nazi's and a teleporting suicide bomber would be a match for the Minotaur. And Percy beat him without the use of his natural advantage in the water, or even a weapon.**

 **There is a reason that Celestial Bronze works on everyone on Bet, other than the fact I needed to do something to make his gear useful. Since the Gods don't have much of a hold over Bet, there isn't any Mist, which basically means that any supernatural stuff appears as it really is. Gods and Demigods can generate it when needed, but it doesn't last long. As a result, weapons that normally wouldn't work on Mortals work just fine.**

 **Yes, Percy will be joining the Wards, mainly because he doesn't want the Fates mad at him (well, madder. They don't like Outsiders), but also because of other reasons you can probably guess. If not, it'll become blatantly obvious once I have him join in on a study session. Or even after they start unmasking.**

 **Hehehe, anyway, this is done, so I'm gonna sign out. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!**


	4. I Meet the Wards

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **Nothing much to say, other than Enjoy!**

I Meet the Wards

The trip back to the PRT HQ was rather awkward. Battery had insisted on confiscating my sword, but I could already feel that the pen had already appeared back in my pocket. I didn't feel like enlightening her to that little factoid though. Mainly because, while the Fates apparently really wanted me to go with them for some reason, that didn't mean I wasn't annoyed by it.

Assault kept trying to break the awkward silence, but he never got more than a couple of words out before Battery elbowed him in the stomach and he eventually just crossed his arms and pouted.

* * *

It was all I could do to keep myself from breathing a sigh of relief when we finally arrived the the HQ. The back of the van had been getting rather hard to breath in thanks to the tension. I was almost happy to see the overly tense looking PRT troopers waiting for me in the underground garage as I followed the older Heroes out of the van.

"Um, do you mind if I get rid of my shield?" I asked, "I suspect I won't need it and its kinda inconvenient."

"Sure, go for it," said Assault.

The Troopers tensed slightly as I held out my arm and pushed the hidden button on the underside of the shield. There was the sound of metal sliding across metal and the bronze snapped into the enchanted watch.

"Huh, thats cool," said the older Hero, "Is that some kind of Tinkertech?"

"Nope," I said.

When I didn't say anything else, he shrugged and led the way into a lift that I'm pretty sure was Tinkertech that took us up to the tenth floor in about two seconds.

* * *

Fortunately, the actual debrief thing was pretty quick, only taking about ten minutes to go over everything that had happened and before I knew it I was led into a lounge area where I was rather surprised to find my Mother talking with a PRT agent. As I entered, they turned and I immediately knew I was rumbled.

"Um, hi Mum?" I tried.

Mum just raised an eyebrow. I squirmed under her gaze, trying desperately not to break down and start blubbering. Its rather odd that I can take down murderous Capes without batting an eye, but Mum can take me apart with a look. Then again, she was my Mother, so that might have something to do with it.

"So, whats this I hear about you fighting Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Cricket and Oni Lee?" she asked.

"Um, it was someone else?" I tried.

"Nice try Percy, but I know your Fathers power when I see it," she said flatly, "And yes, I know who he was. I suppose you got the sword and shield from him to?"

I looked down and nodded.

"Yeah," I muttered sullenly.

Hey, I might have the memories of two lives, but that doesn't mean I can't act the age I look like on occasion! Mum eyed me for a moment longer, before she sighed.

"Well, I guess that I should have expected this," she said, "You might not be a Cape, but Demigods are Heroes for a damn good reason. I just wish you hadn't gone after that bunch of maniacs first."

"Hey, I couldn't risk letting Danny get hurt!" I protested.

Mum sighed again and shook her head. She muttered something, before stepping forwards and giving me a hug.

"I'm proud of you son," she murmured, "Just please don't do anything that stupid again until you get some proper armour."

I snorted as I hugged her back. Only the mother of a Demigod could say something like that.

"I won't," I said.

The sound of a clearing throat made us break apart and look over to see large blond woman glaring at us.

"While I'm sure that you two have a lot to talk about, I also have a lot of work to do," she said, "Can we get this over with?"

Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked away with a barely visible limp. Impressive if nothing else considering what I knew about the extent of her injuries. Mum and I followed the Director to her office where she eased herself into her seat and fixed the pair of us with a glare.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked, "I know that Battery already told you that the Wards are the best option and I'll reiterate it. You are powerful and everyone will know it by now. If you go out alone, you will be a target."

"I know that," I said, "I didn't actually intended to go out any time soon, certainly not without doing some serious research and training. The only reason I got involved with that fight was because I have a friend whos Dad works for the DWA and I didn't want him to get hurt."

The look I got from Piggot told me she didn't believe me.

"My sons overprotective streak aside, I would like to put him in the Wards," said Mum, "If only so he won't get targeted by people he can't handle."

I grumbled about how I could probably handle just about anyone if I was in water, but didn't speak up. She was right after all and I wasn't dumb enough to believe otherwise.

"I see," said Piggot, "Well, at least that makes things easy."

She reached into her desk draw and pulled out a rather hefty looking sheaf of paper work.

"Um, do I need to read all of that?" I asked, eyeing the paper.

"No, most of it is for your Mother and us," said Piggot, "Things like waivers for medical treatments, information on how you will be payed and so on."

"Fair enough," I said, "So, um, what do I do?"

Piggot pressed a button on her desk and the door opened to emit a Trooper.

"Follow Agent Smith here," she said, "He'll take you to the gym where you can undergo Power testing."

I nodded and followed the big man out of the office and back to the lift. We waited in silence, but I had to ask.

"Agent Smith?" I asked.

The man groaned.

"Yes, I know, I've heard all the jokes," he said, "Please don't."

I grinned, but didn't push my luck.

* * *

It didn't take long to reach the gym (although considering it was the size of a hanger and had weights that looked like something out of a cartoon, that was a bit of a misnomer) where I was met by a cheerful looking older guy with graying hair.

"Ah, hello there!" said the scientist, "I'm Dr Chase. You must be Hoplite, correct?"

"Thats right," I said.

"Good good," said Dr Chase, "Now, I understand your powers are…"

"Enhanced physical abilities and Hydrokinesis," I said, "I also have a sword and shield."

"Ahhhh yes," said the scientist, "I understand that Battery took your sword, yes? Well, unfortunately, she seems to have misplaced it, so…"

I pulled out my pen and clicked it, causing Maelstrom to appear, the blade gleaming like a bronze flame under the light. The scientist stared at the blade for a moment, before making a note and muttering something I didn't catch.

"Alright then, lets move on," he said, "First, lets see how strong you actually are."

He led the way over to a large machine that looked like a cross between a weight machine and a forklift. He directed me to take a seat and start lifting, gradually increasing the weight with every rep, occasionally pausing to make a note, until I reached the point that I couldn't lift any more. He made another note, muttering to himself, before picking up what looked like a spring loaded syringe.

"Um, whats that for?" I asked.

"We use it to test a Brutes defence," he said.

"Ah, I don't think that'll be necessary," I said.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," he said and pressed the thing against my arm.

"OUCH!"

Yeah, Demigods don't have any special protection against weapons without armour.

"I see," muttered Chase as he made a few notes and ignored my glare as I stuck a plaster over the puncture wound.

It'd probably be healed in no time, but I was still annoyed for obvious reasons.

With that done, we moved into another room with a large swimming pool, which I immediately jumped into to wash away the fatigue of the testing. A moment later, I climbed back out, blushing and bone dry as Chase scribbled something down.

"So, how does your Hydrokinesis work?" he asked.

"Well, I can control water," I said, "I can also breath underwater and receive a strength boost when I get submerged, as well as being healed by it."

Chase nodded as he made another note.

"In the report, it said that you summoned a small storm of some kind and caused a tremor," he said.

"I have no idea how I did either," I said, "I was kinda in a state of extreme focus, so I was more reactive than acting. I might be able to replicate it with some practice, but I don't think I can to it at will right now."

"I see," muttered the Dr, scribbling something on his papers, "Alright, lets see what you can do."

* * *

The next hour was spent moving between various pools of various different waters to test the extent of my powers. Unsurprisingly, salt water was the best, especially water that was taken from the sea (and I have no idea why the PRT had a pool of seawater in their HQ so don't ask), with my control dropping off the more stuff was added to it, although not by much. I could still lift an entire pool of chlorinated water, but it was a bit of a struggle and I had trouble manipulating that much anyway.

* * *

An hour after that, after a quick physical and endurance test, Dr Chase finally let me go and I was greeted at the door by Miss Militia.

"Hello, you're Hoplite, correct?" she asked.

"Yep, thats me," I said.

The military themed Capes eyes crinkled in a smile.

"I've heard about you," she said, "What you did at the Docks was impressive. Reckless, but impressive."

"Thanks," I said with a grin of my own.

I ignored the comment about it being reckless. I was a Demigod damn it! My brother got to fight a Minotaur with nothing but his hands, the God of War with only a summers training and the gods damned Earth itself, so I can fight three Nazi's with a sword, a shield and the ocean within spitting distance!

"Anyway, I'm here to take you to meet the rest of the Wards," said Miss Militia, "They've been briefed and are eager to meet you."

"Sounds fun," I said, "After you."

I followed the older Cape back to the lift and down to the very bottom where the doors opened into a short corridor that ended in a frankly massive door. Miss Militia walked up to said door and pushed a button. There was a muffled alarm from inside and a few flashing lights, before the door clunked open.

"The alarms to tell everyone that theres someone new coming who isnt aware of their identities," said Miss Militia, "It gives them time to mask up. I'm sure you'll all be unmasked by the end of the night, but the options there."

I nodded in understanding and followed Miss Militia into the Wards base. It looked pretty much identical to what was described in the books, so I won't go into detail. Besides, I was more interested in the gathered teens, of which Sophia was conspicuously absent.

"Wheres Shadow Stalker?" asked Miss Militia.

"She's asleep," said Aiges, "She said she had a bad migraine and, frankly, didn't look well at all."

Miss Militia sighed.

"Well, I guess its fine then," she said, "She'll have to introduce herself later."

I decided not to mention I was already acquainted with her.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce our newest Ward," said Miss Militia, "This is Hoplite…"

"Please, call me Percy," I said, pulling down my bandana and grinning.

Miss Milita shot me a look.

"What? If we're gonna be a team, we need to be able to trust each other," I said, "Besides, I don't feel like staying masked the whole time."

"Well said Percy!" said Kid Win with a grin as he removed his mask, "Chris Valdez, nice to meet you."

I blinked as I shook his hand. The Tinker looked a little younger than I was and rather short, on top of being skinny enough that he looked like he'd skipped a few years. His hair was dark brown and curly and his eyes an equally dark brown and carrying a look that suggested he might have hit the caffeine a little to hard.

Aegis sighed and shook his head.  
"And once again, he jumps the gun," he muttered, "You really need to get that under control."

Chris glared at his boss as the Wards leader stepped forwards and took his helmet off. Immediately, I was struck by a pair of electric blue eyes that stood out rather intensely against his dark skin and black hair that fell to his jaw.

"Names Carlos, nice to meet you," he said.

I shook his hand and winced as a spark of static crackled.

"Sorry, that happens a lot," said Carlos with a grin.

"Um, no problem?" I said.

For some reason, I was starting to feel rather worried and I wasn't entirely sure why. I wasn't given time to think on it though as a head of blond hair and a pair of intense gray eyes abruptly appeared directly in front of me.

"Hi, I'm Missy!" said Vista, "Your the guy with Hydrokinesis, right? How does it work? How much can you lift? How…"

"Whoa, easy there shrimp!" said Clockblocker, pressing down on the smaller Wards shoulders to get her to calm down, "Let the guy breath. You can drill him for details later."

Missy glared at Clockblocker.

"Don't call me shrimp!" she snapped and smacked him over the head from below.

Somehow.

Clockblocker just laughed and took off his helmet, revealing red hair, green eyes, upturned eyebrows, a crooked smirk that made me want to check my pockets and a gleam in his eye that made me mentally promise that I would never leave food unattended around him.

"Dennis Green, at your service," he said with an exaggerated bow, "And the last member of our little group is…"

"Dean Stansfield," said Gallan, taking of his helmet, "Nice to meet you Percy."

"Likewise," I said, shaking his hand as I examined him.

Explaining what Dean looked like is...difficult. Not because he looked strange, far from it, he was actually incredibly handsome, but because his hair and eye colours were both impossible for me to figure out. They seemed to change depending on what angle I was looking at him, making for a very odd affect.

I quickly shook it off before I could be caught staring.

"So, what do you guys do for fun?" I asked.

Dennis grinned and pointed at a massive monitor with a paused vs match from Mortal Kombat on it. I grinned.

"Oh, now that I can live with!" I said as I followed my new teammates back to the couches.

I barely noticed Miss Militia leave as I settled in for the rest of the day to get to know my new teammates.

 **Done. That was fun and I finally got to do one of the big things I've been wanting to do for a while. Introduce the Wards. You can probably guess why.**

 **Yes, there is a reason why Sophia is down with a migraine and it will become obvious very shortly.**

 **On an unrelated note, I could do with some suggestions for Carlos surname. I couldn't come up with anything decent.**

 **Yes, I know the Wards are likely going to be OOC, no I don't care.**

 **Anyway, I don't have anything else paticularaly witty to say and its been a long day at work, so I'm going to sign off. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	5. I Witness an Explosion

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **Right, two things before I get started. This chapter is probably going to end up being short (although saying that, it'll probably end up being longer than average) and the second is that I don't want anyone to get any ideas for the Sophia in this story. Shes a nasty piece of work, a bully and a generally unpleasant person to be around, but she's neither evil nor a complete psycho. You'll see why I specified that shortly. Enjoy!**

I Witness an Explosion

Two days after my entrance into the Wards, school rolled around again and it was back to the daily grind. Frankly, I was rather happy to go. I'd spent most of Sunday with the PR department arguing over my costume and equipment. The first moron I was assigned to kept trying to take away my sword and saddle me with an utterly ridiculous and childish costume that Dinah would probably refuse to wear. I don't feel like going into detail, but I eventually got sick of it and demanded someone who would actually listened before I want S9 on her ass and fed her to a great white.

After that, I was assigned to Glenn, who was a lot more willing to listen. There was a minor cuffufle about the fact that my Greek theme might clash with Dauntless, but we sorted it out soon enough. I did have to shoot down a couple of name suggestions though. I wasn't about to name myself after my Dad since it felt a tad disrespectful. The same for Triton since I highly doubted my Immortal brother would approve. Now, the Cape known as Hoplite was due to debut as a Ward at some point in the next week, or as soon as they could sort out my costume. I was tempted to pray to my Father for something, but I didn't feel like pushing my luck.

* * *

Anyway, the day started out normal, walking to school with Taylor, settling in for computing and, after finishing my work in about 15 minutes, headed over to PHO to see if there was any mention of me. There was. Apparently, someone had spilled the beans about the fight at the Docks and now the forum was basically on fire talking about 'Leviathan-lite'. I was mildly insulted at being compared with that hack. There were a lot of theories being tossed around, although nothing that came close to the truth and the announcement from a random PRT goon about them knowing about me and the upcoming press conference didn't help matters.

Once classes let out, I headed to my locker ot get my lunch so I could meet up with Taylor (we had different lessons that day). However, I was mildly surprised to see Sophia leaning against the wall near my locker. I really hope she wasn't looking for a fight.

The other Ward looked up as I approached and pushed off the wall and stepped up in front of me. The set of her jaw and look in her eye was pretty much standard for any child of Ares, but she didn't look like she was about to sock me.

"I heard what happened at the Docks," she said after a moments silence, "Taking on those Capes took guts."

I raised an eyebrow.

"So did facing down Ares like you did," I said, "Or was that stupidity? I can never tell."

Sophia's nostrils flared, but instead of punching me, she just crossed her arms.

"I don't like you Jackson," she said, "But then again, I don't really like anyone. That said, I'll be happy to have your back."

She held out a fist.

"Just make sure you don't slow me down Kelp Head."

I snorted and bumped her.

"Same goes for you, War Girl," I said.

THUMP!

Sophia raised an eyebrow as she looked at the source of the sound over my shoulder with a look on her face that pretty much told me everything I needed to know about the incoming clusterfuck. Sure enough, when I turned round, there was Taylor, looking between Sophia and I with a look of utter disbelief on her face.

"Are you going to jump to conclusions or actually let me talk?" I asked before Taylor could open her mouth.

"I...you...wha….WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she spluttered.

"Ah, coming to an understanding with a fellow student after a...falling out?" I said.

Sophia snorted.

"Thats one way to put it," she muttered, before raising her voice, "Look Hebert, despite what you might think of me, I could care less about you. I certainly don't intend to poach your friend."

"Why not?" growled Taylor, glaring at the Daughter of Ares, "You've done it before?"

Sophia snorted (she'd been doing that a lot. Must be an Ares thing).

"You mean Emma?" she asked, "That was all her. I didn't know you from Jack, so why in the world would I have got her to drop you? At most, I would have ignored you, but for whatever reason, Emma decided she didn't want you around any more. Nothing to do with me."

Taylor looked like she'd just been slapped with a fish.

"I...wha...bua…"

Sophia gave a barking laugh.

"What, did you think I was some kind of evil bully obsessed with strength or something?" she sneered, "While I'll be first to admit to being a bitch with a short temper and a rather unhealthy love of punching people in the face, I only do that to people who deserve it. Or annoy me. You don't qualify for either. Hell, you barely even register as worth noticing."

While this was going on, I was looking between the two girls with the air of someone watching a particularly large and messy car crash. Sophia looked somewhere between annoyed and amuse, while Taylor looked rather confused, all her anger having been swallowed up by Sophia's pointed statements about genuinely not giving a rats ass about her.

Now, while some people might believe that she was talking out of her ass considering her personality in canon and fanon, but I believed her. Say what you will about Ares kids (and I would), but they tended to be brutally honest. They didn't give a monkeys about what anyone thought and would quite happily take apart anyone who'd take offence to that. After all, War is, at its core, incredibly simple.

"But...you tried to KILL me!" yelled Taylor, "You shoved me in that shithole!"

Sophia sighed.

"If I did that, do you honestly believe I'd still be ALIVE?" she growled, "A black girl shoving a white one in a locker full of crap in a school full of Nazis? Yeah, even if it was someone like you, I'd be shanked in no time. Besides, I wasn't even in school that morning. I got...caught up in one of Uber and Leets capers."

I somehow doubted that any of the idiots who attended school here would be able to get one up on someone like Sophia, but she did have a very good point. I made a mental note to check Uber and Leets website later to see if I could find that particular video. I believed her, but it would be nice to have confirmation.

"Plus, if I wanted you dead, you can be damned sure I'd look you in the eye when I sent you to Hades," finished Sophia.

OK, now that I believed without any reservations. Although I did have to wonder when she started using Greek terms. Maybe its a Demigod thing?

Anyway, by this point, Taylor had gone a bit of a funny colour and I was worried she was about to pass out. Or be sick. I'm not sure what Sophia would do if Taylor upchucked on her shoes, so I got ready to step in if needed.

"B-but if not you then...oh god!" gasped Taylor and collapsed as her knees gave way.

Then she kept falling and vanished into her own shadow. Fortunately, the corridor was empty, although both Sophia and I were rather taken aback.

"Huh...so thats how she got out of the Locker," said Sophia, "I never thought she had it in her."

"Considering what she's been through, I'm not surprised shes Triggered," I said, "Although I do have to ask, if you really didn't have anything to do with bullying, how did the other two get stuff out of Taylors locker? Or into it."

Sophia snorted and grabbed the lock of a nearby locker. She twisted and pulled, causing the lock to open with absolutely no resistance.

"Theses lockers are utter shit," she said as I made a mental note to never leave anything valuable in my locker, "Anyone could get in with enough practice. Now if you'll excuse me, I have track."

She shouldered her bag and jogged away. I sighed deeply as I glanced at the patch of floor where Taylor had vanished.

"Something tells me this is gonna get very complicated," I muttered, "And I still havent had my lunch!"

 **Told you it'd be short. I just needed this chapter to set up the next one, which will be an interlude. You can probably guess whats going to happen, although probably not the how.**

 **So yeah, thats why I said that the Sophia here is a tad different to canon and how shes usually portrayed. Think Sparta rather than complete nutjob. Now, just because I've stated that Sophia wasn't technically involved in the bullying, that doesnt mean shes completely innocent. She has battered Taylor around in the past, mostly shoulder bargers and the like. She is not suddenly going to become Taylor's friend or anything, although they may do so later. Much later. Probably after having a fistfight or something.**

 **Plus, theres another reason that shes a little less belligerent than normal.**

 **So yeah, next time, an interlude, two new Demigods being introduced and possibly a PHO segment. Not sure about that one though. I might make that its own thing. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	6. Interlude 1: Friends in High Places

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **And here we go with the interlude, which will include angst, necromancy and two Demigods getting some help from upstairs. Lets see how it goes. Enjoy!**

Interlude: A Mothers Love

When people imagine a safe place to go and be away from the world, few people would imagine a graveyard. However, for Taylor Hebert, the Graveyard on Captains Hill had always been a place where she'd felt comfortable, ever since her Parents had first took her their to visit her Grandparents gravestones. Since then, Taylor had visited the old Graveyard whenever life became to chaotic, letting the quiet calm of the tombstones, gnarled old trees and swirling mists. Considering that, is it any wonder that Taylors first instinct after having her world be well and truly smashed to bits was to go to the Graveyard?

The shadows under one of the trees seemed to bubble for a moment, before they bulged up and flowed away, depositing Taylor onto the damp grass. The girl stumbled slightly, leaning on the tree to keep herself from falling as she gasped for breath. Her power to teleport through the shadows was draining, especially when she wasn't expecting it. For a moment, Taylor remained where she was, mentally cursing herself for overreacting and outing herself like that.

Eventually, she pushed herself to her feet and started following the familiar path that would lead to the thing she was in the Graveyard to visit. Since she couldn't do anything about the whole outing as a Cape thing, she might as well get something out of this whole debacle.

It didn't take her long to reach her destination. It was a simple gravestone of white marble, well taken care of and surrounded by daffodils. Taylor stopped in front of the headstone, staring down at the words picked out in gold on the surface.

"Hey Mom," she whispered, "I know its been a while, but...things have happened."

She sniffed and scrubbed at her eyes, although it didn't help much.

"I...I'm a Cape now," she said, "M-my powers appeared when...when I…"

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"When Emma shoved me into my Locker," she gasped out, "I nearly DIED Mom! I-I thought it was Sophia, but looking back, I don't even know why! She's...shes barely even looked at me, even when Emma and her 'friends' were mocking me."

Taylor fell to her knees, tears flowing from her eyes as she punched the ground.

"Why?!" she sobbed, "Why would Emma do that? What in the world could have happened to her to make her want me dead? Why?"

Taylor barely noticed the slight gust of wind that seemed to come from nowhere, but she certainly noticed the ethereal arms that appeared from nowhere to wrap around her from behind. Taylor froze as a familiar and impossible warmth drew her into its embrace. Without thinking, she pulled herself out of the embrace and stumbled away, ending up with her back to her Mothers gravestone as she stared wide eyed at the impossible sight before her.

Kneeling on the grass, clad in a simple white dress and barefoot, was Annette Hebert, looking exactly like she had the day she died. The only immediately obvious difference about her was the way her hair moved as if it was made of smoke and the unnatural paleness of her skin.

"I...wha...who…?" gasped Taylor.

The woman who looked like her mother gave an achingly familiar smile.

"Hello Taylor," she said.

"Y-your dead," said Taylor dumbly.

Annette smiled thinly.

"Of course I am," she said, "But death is far from the end."

"I...what?" asked Taylor, "If your dead, how are you here?!"

Annettes smile widened back onto a full on happy smile.

"What kind of mother wouldn't answer her Daughters call?" she asked.

"I...I called you?" asked Taylor, "How? I've never heard of a power like that!"

Annette sighed and shifted so she was sitting cross legged.

"I admit, I hoped that I'd get to be the one to explain this to you," she said, "I never thought I'd be the example of it though."

"What are you talking about?" asked Taylor.

"Your not a Parahuman Taylor," said Annette, "Your ability to travel through Shadows, to call on the Dead, to control all that dwell beneath the earth and so much more, it all comes from your Father."

Taylor frowned.

"Dad? What does he have to do with anything?" she asked.

Annette shook her head.

"No, not Danny," she said, "Your real Father."

Taylor felt like her stomach dropped through her feet and into the Earth.

"I met Danny when I was pregnant with you," said Annette, "Your Father...he had to leave shortly after he found out I was pregnant."

"Why?" asked Taylor, feeling like her world was slowly coming out at the seems.

"He has...a lot of responsibilities," said Annette, "He never stopped keeping an eye on you though. I know for a fact that hes helped on more than one occasion, although he is limited on what he can do."

"Helped? Helped how?" asked Taylor.

"He sent Alecto to act as you and Dannys representative during the aftermath of the Locker," said Annette, "She was the one who got them to pay through the nose."

Taylor winced at the reminder of the worst day of her life, but still managed to remember the old lady Lawyer with an evil grin as she handed over a sheaf of paper with a LOT of zeros on it and a promise to pay her hospital bills to keep them from dragging Winslow into a legal battle that would have utterly gutted the school and likely resulted in a fare few people getting tossed in prison. She had suggested that they go after the perpetrators, but she hasn't wanted to reveal that Emma was one of them, so nothing had come of it. She was regretting that now.

"So, she worked for my Father?" she asked.

She'd been wondering where the Lawyer had come from considering she knew that Danny couldn't have afforded her. Annette nodded.

"Who is he?" she asked.

He had to be rather important and wealthy to be able to afford a lawyer as good as Alecto.

Annette gave a rather sardonic smirk.

"Your Father is Hades," she said, "God of the Dead."

Taylors jaw dropped.

"W-what?!" she sputtered, "Are you crazy?! A god? Thats…"

She paused. She had been about to say it was impossible, but impossible was basically a meaningless word on Bet when you consider some of the stuff Capes were capable of. Plus, she was talking with her deceased mother in a graveyard.

"Maybe a little, but not that crazy," said Annette, "Anyway, I don't know why your so surprised. Your hardly the only Demigod in town."

Taylor frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I can't tell you all of them, but that new friend of yours, Percy, is technically your cousin," said Annette, "His Father's Poseidon."

Taylor blinked, before she went a little green. She'd likely never admit it, but she thought the green eyed boy as rather good looking and may have started to develop a crush on him. Annette snorted and waved a hand.

"Oh don't worry about that," she said, "Godly genetics aren't really a thing. So long as the Demigods aren't direct siblings or related through their Mortal side, they're not really related at all. And even if they were, you do remember what the Greek Gods are like, right?"

Taylor switched out her green hew for a bright blush, which only made the ghost of her Mother laugh. A moment later, Taylor joined in. It felt good to laugh like that again, although she wasn't to sure what it said for her mental state that she was doing it with the ghost of her Mother. Eventually, they stopped laughing, although they were both still smiling, and Annette held out her arms. Taylor didn't hesitate and immediately accepted the hug, relishing in the familiar warmth of her Mother.

"Listen to me Taylor," said Annette as she stroked her Daughters hair, "I can't stay for much longer. I wish I could, but the Dead don't belong in the Living World. I will come if you call, but please, try not to lean on me. Put your trust in Danny, in Percy and in the other Demigods. You are one of children of the Big Three. Of everyone on this planet, you are one of those destined to be a Great Hero. Remember that and don't allow the Fatal Flaw of your Father to consume you."

She pulled back, staring at her Daughters face.

"And always remember that your Father and I are proud of you."

Taylor swallowed around the lump in her throat and nodded as the tears once again started to flow. Annette smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Taylor squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to burn the feeling into her mind as she felt her Mothers warmth begin to fade.

"I love you," whispered Annette as she pushed something into Taylors hand.

A moment later, she opened them again to find that she was once again alone in the Graveyard. She sniffed and scrubbed her cheeks clean. She looked down at the thing her Mother had given her. It was a bracelet made of black metal with a curved sword shaped charm she recognized as a Kopis from her mothers old history books. The metal was oddly cold and seemed to absorb the light that hit it, but the cold was comforting more than anything else.

"I love you too Mom," she muttered.

She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and stood. She wasn't really feeling better, but she wouldn't let Emma, or anyone else for that matter, keep her down anymore. She closed her eyes and focused. A moment later, the shadows responded and she vanished from the Graveyard. She never even noticed the horned warhelm made of black fire that momentarily appeared above her head.

* * *

Interlude 2: Cultivating Hope

Amy Dallon sighed as she stepped out of yet another room, leaving the formally terminal patient to undergo the tests necessary to be discharged. Another life saved, another face to be added to the countless others that she didn't even try to remember anymore. She didn't even know why she bothered anymore. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Carol would never truly accept her and the pressure was starting to get to her. The constant expectation to keep healing people, the knowledge that the 'Great Panacea' could heal anything that brought people from all over the world...it was enough to make her tempted to deliberately mess up so people might stop looking at her like some kind of cure all.

The healer sighed as she headed to the next room. No, she couldn't do that. No matter how tempted she might be, Carol had taught her better than that. She wouldn't take out her frustration on an innocent whos only crime was to have hope. Still, she really needed a break.

"Do I have your permission to heal you?" she asked, not really looking at the elderly woman in the bed.

"Of course dear," said the woman, holding out her hand.

Amy took the offered limb, absently cataloguing her patents injuries. Most of it was basically the wear and tear caused by age, although she did have a nasty upcoming condition in her heart and her fingers and arms had a lot of built up damage that indicated that she'd done a lot of physical work for most of her life. This wouldn't take long…

"You seem troubled."

The statement was so unexpected, Amy nearly jumped. She looked up at the woman she was healing and found herself staring into a pair of warm, brown eyes that reminded her of freshly tilled earth. The womans hair was the colour of straw and her skin was tanned, indicating that the damage to her hands and arms likely came from either farm work or long hours toiling in a garden.

"I...what?" said Amy.

Normally people were to in awe of her to speak or just so grateful that they could do nothing but thank her. Not once had she ever seen one of the people she worked on looking at her with such worry in their eyes.

The woman caught her hand and turned it so that her palm was facing up, gently tracing her palm with a featherlight touch.

"Your tense, stressed," said the woman, "How often are you here?"

"E-every day," said Amy, now more confused than ever.

The woman clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"Oh dear, thats no good," she said.

Amy frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked, "I can help, so I do. Its only right that I use my powers to help those that need it."

"Thats very true," said the woman, "But you should not wear yourself down doing it. A child should not have so much resting on her shoulders. Even the greatest of healers have to take a break every now and then or it will be them in the bed next."

Amy frowned. She'd heard warnings like that before from the Doctors and nurses, but for some reason, the warning coming from the woman carried far more weight. The woman smiled and patted her hand.

"The Doctors here are good at their jobs," she said, "Let them do them. I'm sure they'd call you if needed."

Amy hesitated. She understood what the woman was telling her, but there was one slight problem.

"But what am I supposed to do?" she asked, "I've been doing this for so long…"

"Ah, I understand," said the woman, "I suggest you find a hobby. I myself am partial to gardening. Seeing so many things grow and flourish under my care is a pleasure few things can match."

Amy nodded slowly. That...actually sounded rather nice. None of her family were were particularly green thumbed, so it wouldn't be hard to take over the garden from the gardener Carol hired to keep the beds and lawns looking nice. Plus, she'd often found herself planning out how she'd do the garden. Perhaps she should dig out some of those old sketches.

"I...think I might just do that," she said, "Thank you."

The woman smiled, her face crinkling into a fascinating map as she did.

"Good girl," she said, "And when you do, try planting these."

She pressed a bundle of seeds into Amys hand and closed her fingers over them.

"What are they?" asked Amy.

"Moonlace," said the woman, "Rather rare, they only grow wild in one place and few people can get seeds or even manage to get them to grow. However, I don't think you'll have any trouble."

Amys eyes widened.

"I-I don't think I can accept these," she said, "Not if their that rare…"

She moved to hand them back, but the woman didn't move to take them.

"No, its fine," she said, "I have already cultivated my own beds, so getting the seeds isn't hard. Take them and make them bloom. Bring a little colour to this dying city and remember old Aunty Dea when you look at them."

"I...thank you," said Amy, feeling more than a little choaked up as she tucked the presous little bundle into her cloak.

Dea smiled and patted the healer's hand.

"Its no trouble dear," she said, "Now, I believe your shifts done, so stop talking to this old lady and hurry home."

Amy nodded and headed for the door.

"Oh, and don't forget to eat your cereal," said Dea, "You're looking far to peaky!"

Amy smiled and waved as she left, for the first time she could remember, happy to be heading home. She was already planning where she would plant the seeds in her pocket with the sort of passion normally only seen in Tinkers.

 **BOOM, done. I planned to do one more, but I think I'll save that for later. I also planned for a character from PJ to pop up, but I ended up scrapping that to. Oh well, maybe later.**

 **I really hope I did a good job of the scene between Taylor and Annette and can I just say that it fucking weird writing about a character with the same name as my own mother?**

 **I don't think I need to spell out who Panacea's 'patent' was, do I? Or what she was doing there for that matter.**

 **Since I can't think of anything particularly witty to say, I'm gonna sign out. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	7. We Get Kidnapped

Outsider Chronicles: Storm at Sea

When I was born into the world of Worm, I thought that maybe I'd end up with powers. To be fair, I wasn't wrong, but I never would have believed that I'd get them like this! Turns out, inherited powers are a thing, at least when your Dad is the God of the Seas!

 **And we're back! This chapter will include Uber and Leet, Taylor debuting and possibly some WTF reactions from you lot. Enjoy!**

We Get Kidnapped

When I got home from school that evening, I was only mildly surprised to be met by Taylor just outside her house. The girl looked a lot better than she had at school, although it was clear that she had been crying. I winced at the sight of her red eyes. I had wanted to go after her when she vanished, but without any idea of where she'd gone, I couldn't justify ducking out. After all, part of being a Ward was to not bunk off.

Despite that, I could also see that something was different about her. She was holding herself differently and I swear the air around her was slightly colder.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine," said Taylor, "But we need to talk."

"Alright," I said, "Come on, lets talk inside."

Taylor nodded and we headed inside where I busied myself making some tea for us and finding some cookies Mum had made the day before. Once I was done, I sat down across from my friend. For a moment, we sat in silence.

"I'm sorry about earlier," said Taylor eventually.

I shrugged.

"Eh, not a problem," I said, "I can understand why you did it, even if you were wrong in the end."

Taylor looked down, her face paling and I winced. Nice going idiot, you just made her feel worse.

"Sorry," I said, "So, I take it you had more to say than that?"

Taylor nodded, her fingers tightening on her cup.

"I...I saw my Mother again," she said, "She...she told me that my...my Father isn't...well, that he isn't my Dad."

"Hmm, I kinda figured that from the Shadow Travel," I said, "Lemme guess, Hades, right?"

Taylor did an epic spit take and I stopped the hot tea in mid air before it could hit me in the face. It was water, so it wouldn't hurt me, but I still didn't feel like getting hit in the face with the hot liquid.

"Wha...how did you know that?!" she spluttered.

"Well, like I said, Shadow Travel is one of Hades tricks," I said as I moved the tea to the sink, "Add in the ability to talk to the dead and the Stygian Iron bracelet and what other conclusion am I supposed to come to?"

Taylor stared at me with wide eyes.

"S-so, you really are…?"

I smiled and waved a hand over my cup, the tea rising up and forming into the shape of a trident.

"Yep, son of Poseidon," I said, "And Sophia's dad is Ares. Guys a dick, but what do you expect from the God of War?"

There was a rumble of thunder that I ignored, although Taylor looked rather taken aback by the sound coming from the clear sky.

"So, Sophia is…" muttered Taylor, looking like she needed a minute.

I glanced at the clock and saw I was running late for meeting with my fellow Wards for the time honoured team building exercise of a study group. We might all attend different schools, but there was still plenty we could do as a group and it was mostly to have fun anyway. I'd been toying with an idea since it was suggested, but this clinched it. Taylor was in dire need of friends and who better than a bunch of heroes? Plus, it'd help get her mind off all the revelations from the past few hours.

"Hey, grab your bag," I said as I got to my feet.

"Huh?" said Taylor.

"I made some friends at a club I joined over the weekend," I said, "We organized a little get together for today and your coming with."

"Wha…?"

Taylor looked like I'd just slapped her with a fish as I pulled her to her feet and dragged her out the door.

"You need something to take your mind of the shit that hit the fan today and really need to get out of your shell," I said, "Trust me, you'll like em."

"But I…"

"Come on Tay, you might be big dark and broody's kid, but that doesn't mean you have to be a broody loner to," I said, ignoring the indigent rumble from outside.

"I...OK, fine," groaned Taylor, "If your sure it'll be OK…"

"It'll be fine," I said.

* * *

One bus ride into town later and I was leading Taylor into the coffee shop we'd all agreed to meet in since it served a good cupper as well as high quality coffee. The moment I entered, I knew we'd be in for a fun day as a feeling of general awe washed over me and my gaze was drawn to a large table near the back where my fellow Wards were sitting, watching as Vista looked about ready to chew through the table in frustration. I grinned. This was gonna be fun!

"Come on," I said, leading the way over to the table.

"Percy, what…?" she started, but was cut off by Missy's frustration boiling over and her snapping her pencil in half.

"ARRRGGGHHH! THIS IS SO UNFAIR DAMNIT!" she yelled and slammed her head own on the table.

"Having problems?" I asked.

Missy made a noise and flipped me the bird.

"Hey Perce, whos the girl?" asked Dennis.

"This is Taylor," I said, "My first friend in town and neighbour who desperately needs more friends who won't screw her over. Taylor, these are my new friends."

There was a round of greetings and introductions before we took two of the free seats, Taylor still looking a little uncomfortable and Missy still with her head planted on the table.

"So, what's bugging Missy?" I asked.

The blonde in question made a rude noise.

"Shes having trouble with her homework," said Dennis, not even bothering to hide his grin.

I blinked in surprise. Missy was smart, easily the smartest person in the Wards, so the idea of her struggling with any form of schoolwork was quite the shock. Curious, I lent over to take a look and found that it was a book report. Wait…

"Your dyslexic?" I asked.

Missy snarled into the table.

"Oh, don't be like that Missy," said Dennis with his normal grin, "We've all been through the same thing after all."

My mind screeched to a halt.

"What?" I asked flatly, "Your all dyslexic?"

"Yes, why?" asked Dean.

I let my head drop to the table with a thud.

"Next question, how many people here also have ADHD?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Chris.

I took a deep breath, straightened up and scribbled a line down on a spare pad of paper. I flipped the pad around and my friends.

"Why would we find that strange?" asked Aegis, "And why did you write it down?"

"Because I wanted to confirm something," I said, "When did you learn to read Ancient Greek?"

"Wha…" started Carlos, but was interrupted by the world suddenly going...weird.

For a brief moment, everything turned fuschia and the smell of torch smoke, before everything resolved and we found ourselves in a forest...wearing our uniforms. I was even wearing my brand new one, a bronze, greek style helmet, breastplate with a Trident engraved on the front, greaves and bracers over a dark blue bodysuit.

Even Taylor had been given some armour in the same Greek style as me, including a helmet with a rather impressive black and red plumb.

"What the hell!?" spluttered Chris, "What happened?"

An instant later, we got our answer. A screen appeared in mid air with a very familiar face grinning down at us.

"Helllo world!" yelled Leet in his usual greeting, "And welcome to the show! Today's special guests, the Wards, including the new kid, and tall dark and broodies kid!"

I raised an eyebrow as a rumble of thunder echoed from somewhere outside.

"Yeah yeah, I know I know," said Leet, waving off the Godly warning, "But in all seriousness, lets get started! Today's a tad different because we're not apeing a video game. Instead, its a simple game of CTF!"

"We're not gonna play your games Leet!" shouted Aegis.

"Actually, you are," said Leet, "Cus if you don't, you ain't getting out!"

He waved a hand and the screen widened to show an overhead map of the area. It was a forested area with a few hills, what looked like a pile of stones and a river cutting the forest in half.

"The rules are simple," he said, "All you need to do is get the flag from the other team and cross the creek. Of course, the other team will be trying to nab your flag at the same time, so stay on your guard! All magical items are allowed, the Flag must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged and please try to avoid any maiming or killing. I don't fancy getting Caged."

"And what if we just throw the game?" asked Dennis.

"Oh, then we'll dump you ten miles out of the city and let you walk back," said Leet, "On the other hand, if you win, we'll stick you back at the PRT HQ and even let you keep the armour."

"I think we'll play," I said quickly.

"Jolly good," said Leet, "You get 15 minutes to plan and I suggest you make it a good one. Ubers leading the other team and hes rather looking forwards to meeting you Hoplite."

I frowned, but before I could ask what the hell he was talking about, the screen vanished and a patch of floor opened up and a table of equipment rose from the ground, along with a sea green flag with a trident on it. Interesting choice.

I walked over to the table and scanned its contents. If I wasn't sure that Leet at the very least was a Demigod, the sight of all the bronze weapons pretty much confirmed it. Judging from the faint glow that was coming from most of them, it was Celestial Bronze to. There was also a large map of the area, which was nice. Guess they wanted to make it fair.

Behind me, Aegis let out a sigh.

"Well, I don't like it, but I guess we don't have a choice," he said, "Vista, you got this?"

Missy grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"Leave it to me," she said.

She trotted over to the map and lent over it, muttering to herself. I turned to Taylor, who looked like her mind had stalled.

"Hellooo? You in there Tay?" I said, waving a hand in front of her face.

She snapped out of her shock and pointed at the Wards.

"Wha…?" she asked.

I coughed awkwardly.

"Yeahhh, my friends are the Wards and I'm the newest member," I said, "Um, surprise?"

Taylor stared at me for a moment, before she groaned and rubbed her eyes.

"Right, your telling me everything later," she grumbled, "But first, we need to win this thing."

I snickered.

"Well, you'll definitely fit right in," I said.

"Shut it Seaweed brain," she growled as she stalked over to the table and picked up a rather sharp looking spear.

I blinked and stared after her.

"Um, isnt it supposed to be a Daughter of Athena who calls me that?" I muttered.

Then I glanced at Vista and shook my head.

"Nah, bad idea," I said and joined my team.

This was gonna be fun!

 **Bit short for the time, but at least I haven't abandoned it! Yes, Uber and Leet are both Demigods and know it, as well as their extras for this game of CTF. If you can guess who I'm using, I will be genuinely surprised.**

 **I originally planned to have Vicky and Amy present as well, but I decided that that would probably be to many shocks for Taylor to take. Plus, it resulted in Percy acting OOC, so I'll have them meet later.**

 **And I'm out of stuff to say, so I'm going to sign off. Don't forget to leave a review!**


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